Coursera
Gamification
Class:
Week
2
Review
By
Sudarshan
Gopaladesikan
Game
Thinking
1. Why
Gamify?
a. Why
do
we
even
look
towards
game
design
to
help
solve
our
problems?
b. Dodgeball—check-­‐in
app
for
bars.
Predecessor
to
Foursquare.
i. Problem—How
to
reach
critical
mass
of
users
so
that
it
becomes
“viral”?
People
will
only
use
if
they
see
that
many
others
are
using
the
app
as
well.
c. Foursquare,
the
popular
check-­‐in
app
solved
Dodgeball’s
problems
on
5
levels:
i. Engagement
gap
1. To
close
the
gap
between
populations
who
really
use
the
service
and
those
who
don’t,
Foursquare
made
each
“check-­‐in”
an
enriching
experience.
ii. Choices
1. Foursquare
gave
users
the
ability
to
make
a
lot
of
choices
within
the
app.
The
ability
to
check-­‐in
was
coupled
with
the
ability
to
share
achievements
and
compete
with
friends.
iii. Progression
1. Foursquare
offers
progression
within
the
app
through
providing
a
user
level
and
a
tier
of
badges.
iv. Social
1. Foursquare
made
it
social
by
allowing
people
compete
for
“Mayorship”
among
other
badges
and
achievements.
The
ability
to
share
notifications
was
a
hit
as
well.
v. Habit
1. Foursquare
made
the
behavior
of
“checking-­‐in”
a
habit
because
“checking-­‐in”
meant
so
much
more
than
a
simple
button
press.
It
meant
competing
with
friends,
gaining
credibility
in
locations,
and
having
fun
while
doing
it.
d. I
would
just
like
to
point
out
something
designers
should
be
aware
of
when
it
comes
to
giving
user
choices.
In
reference
to
the
popular
Barry
Schwartz
book,
Paradox
of
Choice,
he
argues
that
giving
people

2
too
much
choice
leads
to
regret,
missed
opportunities,
and
creates
frustrations.
A
simple
frustration
from
a
gamified
environment
could
lead
to
negative
associations
with
your
product,
brand,
or
organization
-­‐
something
we
all
want
to
avoid.
2. Thinking
Like
a
Game
Designer
a. “I
am
a
game
designer.”
i. This
is
your
state
of
mind.
Your
Zen.
Approach
your
real
world
goals
as
if
they
are
games
and
those
involved
are
“players”.
b. Different
than
being
a
game
designer
i. Thinking
like
one
doesn’t
necessarily
make
you
into
one.
A
game
designer
focuses
on
many
more
sub
dimensions
than
gamification
needs
to
worry
about.
c. Different
than
thinking
like
a
gamer
i. You
are
the
designer,
not
the
gamer.
The
gamer
plays
the
game,
and
it
is
your
job
to
think
about
the
“nuts”
and
“bolts”
on
how
to
create
an
immersive
experience.
d. In
a
gamified
environment,
your
players/users/customers
will
want:
i. To
feel
like
the
game
revolves
around
them.
ii. The
game
offers
autonomy
while
giving
the
player
the
ability
to
make
meaningful
choices.
iii. The
game
is
constructed
by
rules
and
systems
in
such
a
way
that
it
gives
the
user
maximum
freedom
to
explore
in
the
gamified
environment.
e. The
key
is
to
get
your
target
audience
to
play,
but
also
have
them
keep
playing.
f. I
like
approaching
how
to
think
like
a
game
designer
as
a
gamer
actually.
When
I
am
replaying
a
game
that
I
found
immersive
and
addicting,
I
try
to
take
a
step
back
and
analyze
why
is
it
that
I’m
getting
pulled
into
the
game
in
the
first
place.
Try
it
sometime.
You
will
be
surprised
to
see
how
many
elements
a
game
designer
has
put
to
make
games
FUN,
even
in
games
as
simple
as
Tetris
and
Bejeweled!
3. Design
Rules
a. Pathway
of
the
Player
(in
reference
to
social
utopia
games
like
TapZoo)
i. Onboarding
1. How
to
get
the
player
into
the
game?
TapZoo
uses
a
simple
step
by
step
interactive
tutorial
that
lets
someone
set
up
their
zoo
so
they
can
make
profit.
ii. Scaffolding
1. The
“level-­‐ups”,
training
wheels,
or
hints
in
the
game.
In
TapZoo,
the
ability
to
create
animals
that
bring
in
more
revenue
help
you
level
up
faster.
iii. Pathways
to
Mastery

3
1. There
has
to
be
a
path
from
scaffolding
to
mastery.
Mastery
is
defined
by
having
a
lot
of
knowledge
and
skill
about
a
game.
(ex.
Strategy
on
how
to
build
most
profitable
zoo)
b. General
elements
of
good
game
design
for
Onboarding:
i. Guides
ii. Highlighting
iii. Feedback
iv. Limited
options
v. Impossible
to
fail
c. Balance
is
key.
A
game
has
to
be
balanced;
otherwise
it
will
be
unfair
for
one
of
the
players.
i. Take
chess
for
example.
The
game
starts
out
balanced,
but
once
someone
loses
enough
pieces,
the
game
becomes
clearly
unbalanced.
It
is
at
this
point
where
a
game
comes
to
conclusion.
ii. To
keep
the
game
going,
balance
is
required.
Take
Runescape
for
example.
With
so
many
attributes
such
as
(attack,
defense,
thieving,
crafting,
slaying,
magic,
etc.),
there
is
something
for
everyone’s
skill
level.
Other
elements
such
as
surprise
gifts
give
the
player
momentum
to
maintain
this
balance.
d. Create
an
Experience
i. The
turntable
fm
example
used
in
class
was
great.
Although
the
activity
was
just
listening
to
music
on
your
laptop,
it
was
transformed
into
an
experience
because
it
has
a
nice
UI.
e. The
only
drawback
that
I
see
to
creating
an
experience
is
that
it
might
be
too
distracting
from
other
activities
the
user
wants
to
do.
We
should
give
autonomy
to
the
user,
and
sometimes
think
about
gamified
environments
that
operate
silently
and
when
the
user
is
ready.
f. The
process
of
starting
with
limited
options
and
slowly
scaffolding
to
an
increased
selection
of
options,
it
is
important
to
remember
iteration.
Drawing
from
the
advantages
of
the
agile
software
development
cycle,
working
in
an
iterative
process
will
keep
the
flow
of
the
game
balanced.
4. Tapping
the
Fun
a. FUN
i. Winning,
problem-­‐solving,
exploring,
creating,
chilling,
teamwork,
recognition,
triumphing,
collect,
surprise,
imagination,
sharing,
role-­‐plying,
customization
b. Not
much
to
say
here.
These
are
all
great
examples
of
things
that
are
fun.
However,
surprise
is
a
special
example
that
should
be
taken
into
special
consideration.
i. The
vast
majority
of
today’s
gamification
efforts
are
simply
based
on
positive
reinforcement
(do
something,
get
reward).

4
However,
the
stock
market
isn’t
entirely
based
on
that,
yet
it
is
powerfully
addictive.
The
reason
is
because
of
unpredictability.
We
as
humans
sometimes
make
sub
optimal
opportunity
cost
decisions
because
we
like
to
pay
a
price
to
be
unpredictable.
5. Understanding
Fun
a. Nicole
Lazzaro’s
4
Keys
i. Easy
Fun
1. Fun
that
is
not
taxing.
Easy
to
access.
ii. Hard
Fun
1. Fun
that
is
achieved
after
doing
something
challenging.
On
the
path
to
mastery.
iii. People
Fun
1. Social
games
are
fun
for
a
reason.
iv. Serious
Fun
1. Fun
can
be
derived
from
doing
something
satisfying
that
is
meaningful
to
the
community
and/or
you.
b. Mark
Leblanc
8
Kinds
of
Fun
i. Sensation
ii. Fantasy
iii. Narrative
iv. Challenge
v. Fellowship
(Social)
vi. Discovery
(Exploring)
vii. Expression
viii. Submission
c. The
economic
principle
of
marginal
utility
well
applies
to
having
fun.
Certain
events
are
fun,
but
only
for
a
while
or
for
so
many
times.
Because
of
that,
game
design
should
try
to
appeal
to
many
different
types
of
fun
to
keep
that
balance
so
the
game
doesn’t
break.
6. Finding
the
Fun
a. Fun
can
be
found
anywhere,
it
is
just
a
matter
of
being
able
to
find
it.
i. Subway
station
had
electronic
stairs
that
played
the
piano
when
stepped
on.
Creates
a
fun
interaction.
ii. The
deepest
trashcan
gives
the
illusion
that
you
are
dropping
your
trash
into
the
depths.
That
idea
is
fun.
iii. LinkedIn’s
progress
completion
bar
taps
into
the
goal-­‐oriented
side
of
us.
We
are
driven
to
finish
the
bar,
and
the
feedback
is
our
constant
motivator.
b. The
concept
here
was
that
fun
can
be
subtle.
This
type
of
fun
would
be
derived
from
imagination
fun—one
of
the
types
of
fun
Prof.
Werbach
refers
to.
I’m
sure
it
has
more
types
of
fun
associated
with
it
(esp.
examples
like
LinkedIn)

5

GAME
ELEMENTS
1. Breaking
Games
Down
a. Here
is
a
list
of
useful
elements:
i. Points,
quests,
resources,
avatar,
social
graph,
progression,
and
levels
ii. Tic-­‐Tac-­‐Toe:
board,
tokens,
players,
competitive,
turns,
win/draw
states.
b. A
game
is
derived
from
elements
but
creates
an
experience
(the
play).
c. The
game
element
of
using
a
board
in
tic-­‐tac-­‐toe
can
be
extended
to
the
idea
of
having
boundaries.
As
a
game
designer,
it
is
very
important
to
determine
where
you
want
the
player
to
explore
and
how
to
explore.
Boundaries
of
the
game
create
the
game’s
“magic
circle”
d. To
draw
in
from
psychology,
the
idea
of
using
turn-­‐based
mechanisms
is
interesting.
Research
into
reinforcement
schedules
should
be
done
to
see
if
turn
based
apps
would
benefit
having
variable,
fixed,
and/or
ratio
intervals.
2. The
Pyramid
of
Gamification
Elements
a. Dynamics—The
big
picture
aspects.
i. Constraints
1. The
constraints
are
the
boundaries
that
make
the
game
meaningful
under
a
particular
context.
The
constraints
allow
players
to
play
a
certain
way
so
that
they
arrive
at
meaningful
decisions.
ii. Emotions
1. Emotional
expressions
are
normal
when
playing
a
game.
Capturing
certain
emotions
are
key.
iii. Narrative
1. This
could
be
an
immersive
story
or
could
be
the
element
that
makes
the
human
feel
like
they
are
in
the
center
of
the
game.
iv. Progression
1. How
does
the
user
feel
like
an
amateur
to
an
expert.
v. Relationships
1. Who
does
the
user
get
to
interact
with
throughout
the
experience?
b. Mechanics—These
are
the
elements
that
drive
the
game
forward
i. Challenges,
chance,
competition,
cooperation,
feedback,
resource
acquisition,
rewards,
transactions,
turns,
win
states
c. Components—The
specifics
of
the
game
that
make
up
higher
tier
elements.
i. Achievements,
avatars,
badges,
bosses,
collection,
combat,
unlockables,
gifting,
leaderboards,
levels,
points,
quests,
social
graph,
teams,
virtual
goods.

6

3. PBL
Triad
a. Points
i. Keep
Score,
determine
win
states,
convert
to
rewards,
feedback,
display
progress,
data
for
designer,
and
all
are
on
same
point
system
(equal)
b. Badges
i. Representations
of
achievement,
credentials,
flexible
(can
mean
anything),
style,
signal
importance,
collection,
social
display
c. Leaderboards
i. Global,
local,
friend—style
leaderboards.
However,
this
zero
sum
competition
sometimes
demotivates
people
from
playing.
ii. Serves
as
feedback
for
competition,
useful
for
those
who
are
really
competitive.
d. The
one
thing
I
want
to
mention
about
the
PBL
model
is
that
this
model
as
well
as
other
pairs
of
elements
can
help
businesses
and
companies
move
towards
a
paperless
resume.
i. Similar
to
the
Mozilla
Open
Badge
Project,
if
people
were
to
receive
scores,
feedback,
and
credentials,
they
should
be
able
to
“show-­‐off”
their
work
for
potential
real
world
benefit.
4. Limitations
of
Elements
a. Elements
are
simply
parts
of
the
game.
They
are
not
the
whole
game
itself.
b. Not
all
rewards
are
fun;
not
all
fun
is
rewarding
i. This
points
towards
the
notion
that
external
rewards
may
damage
initial
motivation
for
why
a
user
participates
in
a
certain
action.
A
right
balance
of
rewards
is
needed.
c. There
is
no
cookie
cutter
solution
to
gamification.
The
constant
use
of
PBL
is
creating
a
mass
library
of
gamified
environments
that
use
PBL.
Just
like
video
games,
repetition
is
boring,
and
we
need
to
focus
on
dynamic
gamification
implementation.
d. Other
than
elements,
think
about:
i. Meaningful
choices
1. What
choices
will
the
user
make?
Are
they
ensured
to
be
meaningful?
ii. Puzzles
1. Are
there
puzzles
that
make
the
“game”
challenging?
iii. Mastery
1. Is
there
a
path
to
mastery
so
I
can
claim
myself
to
be
an
expert?
iv. Community
1. Am
I
by
myself
in
this
endeavor
or
are
there
people
with
me?
If
so,
how
do
I
relate
to
the
other
players?
v. Different
types
of
Users

7
1. To
cater
to
the
diversity
of
the
world,
how
can
my
gamified
environment
cater
to
as
many
different
types
of
players
as
possible?
e. I
agree
with
the
main
point
that
elements
aren’t
everything.
A
gamified
environment
should
not
put
so
much
focus
on
the
elements
so
that
it
forgets
about
creating
the
experience.
f. To
create
an
good
experience,
think
about
how
satisfactory
the
freedoms
would
be
to
a
player,
given
the
game’s
constraints.
5. Bing
Gordon
Interview
(A
few
key
ideas
I
found)
a. We
as
a
society
have
all
grown
up
with
games
as
a
normal
medium
of
media.
Because
games
are
all
around
us,
we
are
familiar
with
its
shapes,
forms,
and
existence.
i. This
puts
pressure
on
CEOs
and
companies
to
understand
gamification
to
create
successful
workplaces
for
Gen
Y
workers.
b. Feedback
is
a
2
way
street.
As
much
as
the
designer
works
on
providing
feedback
to
the
user,
the
user
also
can
provide
feedback
to
the
designer.
This
2
way
street
should
be
important
to
recognize.
c. Bing
made
one
mention
about
risk/return
analysis
when
designing
golf
courses.
In
the
notion
of
cognitive
psychology
and
rational
decision
making,
humans
make
tons
of
irrational
and
sub
optimal
decisions.
Creating
mathematical
temptations
with
risk/return
analysis
is
a
great
way
to
engage
users.
i. This
states
that
game
theory
can
be
a
playful
experience.
As
game
theory
is
relies
on
mathematical
models,
gamification’s
use
of
game
theory
is
the
use
of
the
human
brain’s
irrationality
to
make
the
game
unpredictable
and
exciting.
d. Play
is
key
e. If
gamification
is
the
solution
to
finding
out
how
to
communicate,
learn,
and
build
relationships
more
effectively,
then
let’s
take
the
time
to
understand
it.